Historiography is the study of writing history. It gives an insight into the different Approaches to the study of history.

(1) Colonial School

• • Objective: It tries to defend British position/policies in India.
  • ◦ This schools says that there was no ulterior motive of British in India, and they were not guided by colonial imperatives.
  • ◦ As they tried to defend the British, these historians are termed as apologist scholars.

(A) Conquest of India: British didn't have any specific plan to conquer India – India was conquered in a fit of absentmindedness. The British conquest of India was an accident rather than the result of a deliberate policy and design.

• • "Our acquisition of India was made blindly. Nothing great that has ever been done by Englishmen was done so unintentionally, so accidentally, as the conquest of India." (John Seeley, Expansion of England, 1884)
• • UPSC PYQs
  • ◦ The British conquered India, "in a fit of absent minded-ness". Comment. [1997, 20m]
  • ◦ "The rise and expansion of British empire was an accident rather than the result of a deliberate policy and design." Critically examine this statement. [2002, 60m]

(B) Nature of Colonial Rule: In India, colonialism didn't exist as a political, economic and socio-cultural phenomenon. In reality, it was not a colonial rule, but rather merely a foreign rule.

• • UPSC PYQs
  • ◦ "On 23 June 1757, the middle ages of India ended and her modern age began." Comment. [1992, 20m]

(C) Denial of Drain of Wealth, deindustrialization as well as economic exploitation of India.

• • UPSC PYQs
  • ◦ India has been the world leader in the field of hand spun and hand-woven yarn and cloth for many centuries. Many nationalist and Marxist critiques considered that the British dominion deliberately shattered the traditional and world-famous handicrafts of India. Comment. [2021, 20 Marks]

(D) As they denied the phenomenon of colonialism, they also denied the phenomenon of nationalism in India.

• • Nationalism, for them, is suited to that society which is largely homogenous. India was not a nation and could never be a nation because of divisions on the basis of religion, region, language, caste etc.
• • Its later emergence was the response of the Indian bourgeois elite to the stimulus provided by British ideas, institutions, opportunities and resources.

Contribution of Colonial History:

• • They were the first to start studying modern Indian history. They were the trend-setter.
• • Their critical approach, sometimes, may check the excessive jingoism of nationalist scholars, who sometimes paint a very idealistic picture of national movement.

(2) Nationalist School

• • It was the product of the national movement. These historians rose as a reaction to the imperial school. They were the first scholars to oppose the imperialist line of historiography (old Cambridge school).
  • ◦ As colonial historical narrative became negative and, in contrast, a justificatory view of colonialism, a nationalist reaction by Indian historians came.
  • ◦ Colonial historians now increasingly, day by day, threw colonial stereotypes at Indians. Indian nationalist historians set out to create counter-stereotypes, often explicitly designed to oppose colonial stereotypes thrown at them day after day.
• • Scholars: RC Majumdar, SN Banerjee, RG Pradhan, Ambika Charan Majumdar
• • Nationalism
  • ◦ Modern historians have also been divided between those, such as Tara Chand, who held that India has been a nation-in-the-making since the 19th century and those who argue that India has been a nation since the ancient times.
• • Colonialism: They carried modern historiography one step further.
  • ◦ They accepted that colonialism existed as a political as well as socio-economic phenomenon.
  • ◦ They also believed that there was a basic contradiction between British colonial interests and interests of Indians.
• • Limitations: As a whole, historians neglected economic, social and cultural history and at the most attached a chapter or two on these without integrating them into the main narrative.
  • ◦ They accepted India's diversity, i.e., its multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and therefore multi-cultural character but they neglected the social reality within India.
    • ■ Ignore/underplayed inner contradictions of Indian society: Class, caste, women, tribes.
    • ■ They give due space to the social reform movements but do not take a critical look at them, and often ignore the movements of the tribal people and the lower castes for their emancipation.
    • ■ They tried to prove that interests of all Indians were same against the British. They romanticized middle class leadership of the national movement.
  • ◦ They have seldom made an in-depth analysis of the national movement, and often indulged in its blind glorification.
  • ◦ While adopting a secular position and condemning communalism, they do not make a serious analysis of its character or elements, causation, and development.

(3) Marxist School

• • Early scholars: RP Dutt, AR Desai, MN Roy.
• • Later scholars: Bipan Chandra, Sumit Sarkar, Aditya Mukherjee, Mrudula Mukherjee etc.
• • This school tried to rectify the limitations of the earlier approaches. It also extended the meaning/objective of freedom.
  • ◦ E.g Tribal and peasant unrests, which were branded as law-and-order issue by the British to justify suppression with the iron hand, were now brought in the scope of the study.
• • It accepts the Nationalist school partially and rejects it on other grounds.
  • ◦ It accepts the basic contradiction between Indian and colonial interests. It was called as Primary contradiction.
  • ◦ But this is not the single contradiction – there are many other secondary contradictions within Indian society itself like landlord-peasant, capitalists-labours which should not be neglected.
  • ◦ Thus, the ambit of study of history expanded from beyond Indian-British relations to other aspects.
• • Evolution
  • ◦ Early Marxist scholars were very mechanical and too much Marxist. They tried always to give primacy to the secondary contradiction than the primary contradiction. It was because they were very much interested in class struggle rather than national freedom movement.
  • ◦ Later Marxist scholars didn't prefer excessive/puritanical Marxism and tried to balance them.

(4) Neo-Cambridge School

In the 1970s, some modifications in view, a new approach emerged among Cambridge historians. They offered interpretation in reaction to the Marxist school.

• • Important scholars: Gordon Johnson, DA Low, JH Broomfield, Christopher Bayley, Anil Seal, Judith Brown, David Washbrook
• • This school claimed a move from province to region and from community to faction in their interpretation. However, on close observation, it reveals there is no major change but a more polished version of the Old.

Three debates between Marxist and neo-Cambridge historians.

• • What is the innermost spring of the mechanics of modern politics in British India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
  • ◦ They tried to interpret change in the context of the interest of Indian elite, as well as British parliament decisions, political factions in India etc. (and not economic factors).
• • What is the most decisive territorial unit to study the political change?
  • ◦ They emphasized on the use of the concept of "micro study" (study of locality) while all-India generalisations were avoided as incorrect. However, it is in the garb of micro-study, these scholars try to divert attention of all the scholars from British economic exploitation. Over-generalization across the subcontinent is considered to be wrong.
• • Nature of the social group on which they should focus.
  • ◦ British rule expanded political opportunities in India through better institutional government, rivalry started among Indian elites to appropriate maximum benefits.
  • ◦ In the course, some elites at the regional level became patrons (regional brokers) and created a band of followers as clients.
  • ◦ As many regional brokers emerged, there appeared a need for collaboration and coordination among them – led to rise of all India brokers ….!

Towards freedom series

In the 1970s, the British Government commissioned a series of 12 books, The Transfer of Power that disregarded the Indian freedom struggle and projected the transition as a smooth process.

In response, a number of historians in India conceptualized a 10-volume project called 'Towards Freedom' in the 1970s. It was to be a documentation of the decade leading up to 1947. ICHR was entrusted with its publishing; the first two volumes came out in 1997. Gyanendra Pandey, Bipin Chandra, Basudev Chatterji, Sumit Sarkar, Mushirul Hasan, KM Panikkar, Sucheta Mahajan, Arjun Dev and Bimal Prasad were among the historians tasked with editing the different volumes. But in 2017, the final three parts, which made up the tenth volume, were scrapped.

(5) Subaltern Approach

• • Subaltern: Those who are on the margin and are neglected.
• • Scholars:
  • ◦ It was developed as a historiographical school under Ranajit Guha in 1980s.
  • ◦ Soon, many others like Partha Chatterjee, Gyan Pandey, David Arnold, David Hardiman, Shahid Amin, Dipesh Chakravarti, David Ludden etc. contributed to it.
• • Guha asserts that parallel to elite politics, there was a domain of people's politics in which the principal actors were the subaltern classes and groups constituting the mass of the population. He believes that no elite leader controls masses, rather it's the masses who control the leaders.
  • ◦ According to them, all previous schools (namely imperialist/nationalist/Marxists) suffered from a common problem – of over-emphasizing the role of the leadership in the movement. However, the actual role was played by the subalterns. They have the real agency and their actions are political.
  • ◦ Subaltern school gives too much importance to social process rather than role of leadership.
• • UPSC PYQs
  • ◦ How far is it correct to say that the 19th century tribal uprisings are a part of subaltern nationalism? [2016, 20m]
  • ◦ "Gandhi restrained mass movements, yet he retained his popularity among the masses." Comment. [2002, 20m]
  • ◦ Why is the Quit India Movement characterised as a 'Spontaneous Revolution'? Did it accelerate the process of Indian independence? [2019, 20 Marks]
    • ■ Similarly, Stephen Henningham, a subaltern historian, shows how in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh the 'Quit India' movement of 1942 was a dual revolt consisting of an elite nationalist uprising combined with a subaltern rebellion.

Causes behind Era of Discovery and Sea Voyages

• • Decline of Constantinople:
  • ◦ Conquest of Constantinople by Ottomans in 1453 blocked all trading routes between India and Europe.
  • ◦ With this, the merchants from Genoa and Venice monopolised the spice distribution in Europe.
  • ◦ Thus, there started a competition in Europe for sea voyages to discover alternative routes to India.
• • Adventurous spirit inspired by the Renaissance:
  • ◦ It reduced the influence of religion on people's mind and emphasised the dignity of man. This humanistic consciousness also encouraged people to engage in maritime activities by taking an adventurous spirit among them.
• • Maritime Innovation and technological advancement:
  • ◦ In the field of ship design and navigation, technological advancement became commonplace. (e.g. use of a compass or astrolabe)
• • Religious Reform, rivlary and Zeal:
  • ◦ After this the Roman Catholic Church system was disintegrated and two religious sub-sects Roman Catholic and Protestant came into existence. Both were inclined to spread their influence. So, they also encouraged sea voyages.
• • Commercial Revolution, Rising prosperity:
  • ◦ This period was marked by expansion in European Economy.
  • ◦ As a result of this expansion, there was the rise of a prosperous class which intensified the demand for Indian products.
• • Rising monarchies: It was the era of the rise of some ambitious monarchs in Europe who started to finance sea voyages.
• • Mercantilism: (economic system from 1500-1800)
  • ◦ Mercantilism is an economic practice by which governments used their economies to augment state power at the expense of other countries.
  • ◦ In mercantilism, wealth is viewed as finite and trade as a zero-sum game. Thus, governments sought to ensure that exports exceeded imports and to accumulate wealth in the form of bullion (mostly gold and silver).

Estado da India

After Vasco da Gama's successful voyage to India in 1498, the Portuguese Crown sought to establish a monopoly over the spice trade in Indian Ocean. This was against the Indian tradition of 'open sea policy'.

To enforce the monopoly, a combination of techniques were used:

• • Strategic control of key ports along the Indian Ocean.
  • ◦ Fransisco Almeida introduced Blue Water Policy. Instead of a territorial empire, he preferred supremacy at sea.
  • ◦ The conquest of Goa (1510) and Malacca (1511) by Albuquerque provided the Portuguese with a secure base for further operations and control over critical sea routes. They also established bases in Hormuz (1515) and attempted to dominate the spice trade passing through these crucial waterways Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
• • Network of forts
  • ◦ Portuguese constructed a network of forts and trading posts along their maritime empire (e.g. Fort Jesus in Mombasa, Diu Fort in India).
  • ◦ These fortified outposts served as military bases, administrative centers, and trading hubs, allowing the Portuguese to maintain control over vast territories despite their numerical inferiority.
• • Portuguese-Ottoman rivalry for the domination of Indian Ocean.
  • ◦ The Ottoman Empire, a major power in the region, posed a challenge to Portuguese dominance. The Battle of Diu in 1509 and subsequent conflicts marked a struggle for control over key trade routes.
• • 'Cartaz-Armada-Kafila' system
  • ◦ (Arabic 'qirat' meaning paper/document)
  • ◦ Portuguese essentially served as middlemen between growers, traders, and consumers.
  • ◦ Cartaz was a license for safe conduct issued by the Portuguese to native ships in exchange for money. It was essentially a pass or permit that every ship had to purchase to navigate in the waters under Portuguese influence.
    • ■ It allowed ships to navigate in Portuguese-controlled waters and trade at designated ports. Ships were compelled to ply along specified routes and call on to Portuguese ports where they had to pay custom duties. Ships without a Cartaz were subject to seizure and confiscation.
    • ■ Merchants had to pay a fee for the privilege of obtaining a Cartaz.
    • ■ They were prohibited from carrying commodities such as spices which were sought by Portuguese.
  • ◦ This system was a powerful deterrent against potential competitors, as it restricted access to vital trading routes and ensured that only Portuguese-approved vessels could engage in profitable spice trade.
• • Naval strength (Armada):
  • ◦ Armed ships of Portugues cruised trade routes, intercepting vessels without cartazes or violating regulations. Portugal's ships, like the carrack, were advanced ensured control over crucial sea lanes.
• • Apart from trade, Portuguese merchants were involved into see piracy as well.

Was the Monopoly really established?

Despite the efforts and unrestricted use of violence, the Portuguese were unable to meaningfully dominate pepper-producing areas.

• • The maintenance of forts and armada to enforce monopoly was a costly affair.
  • ◦ The Sea-Borne "empire" of the Portuguese was huge in terms of the area they were trying to control. The financial and the human resources available for this vast undertaking were relatively small.
• • Portugal's lack of control over the territories where pepper was grown made their task difficult.
• • The Portuguese also found it difficult to impose complete monopoly due to the opposition of Asian traders and rulers.
  • ◦ There were frequent 'leakages' in the system. The Gujarati merchants collected vast amount of pepper in 1540's and 1550's in the Bay of Bengal and traded it all over Asia.
• • The Portuguese failed to take over Aden, which was acquired by a hostile Ottoman empire in 1538. This left open a vital gap in their monopolistic designs.
• • Although Cape of Good Hope was monopolized by Portuguese, the traditional sea-cum-land route from West Asia continued to operate like before, despite Portuguese efforts to close it down.
• • Through the 16th century, they tried to concentrate all East African trade to their forts at Malindi in Mozambique, decimating local textile manufacturers. However, the African demand for Gujarati textiles stayed high.
• • Soon, the British and Dutch emerged as competitors and challenged the Portuguese hold over the trade.

Thus, Portuguese empire remained to be a sort of a re-distributive empire, where they skimmed off a layer of profits derived from the maritime trading activities of others for themselves. Nevertheless, the activities of Arab and Gujarati merchants received some setback. Few Indian ships now could sail to East Africa and Arabia, as well as far East and Spice Islands. By the latter half of the 16th c, over 75% of the pepper available in European markets was being supplied by Portuguese, which was primarily sourced from India.

The reasons behind the decline of Portuguese power:

Portuguese definitely created a huge maritime empire and started to monopolize Indian Ocean trade. However, there were some major flaws in their operation.

• • Economic reason:
  • ◦ They didn't introduce anything new economically. Only sheer violence to create monopoly over what already existed.
• • Religious Policy:
  • ◦ Portuguese followed the policy of religious bigotry to promote Christianity and encouraged forcible conversions.
  • ◦ Such policy of the Portuguese antagonized local population collaborators. Instead of gaining collaborators, they created powerful adversaries in the vicinity.
• • Administrative reasons:
  • ◦ Estado da India was a crown initiative. The king appointed courtiers and country nobles in the administration who had access to the king directly. This led to ill-development of civilian bureacracy with single point of command.
• • Domestic limitations:
  • ◦ Portugal was a smaller country, and it was lacking in sufficient resources to maintain a proper rivalry with other European countries.
  • ◦ Portuguese society was feudal in character. There, the dominance of the aristocratic class on the middle class was a common phenomenon.
  • ◦ In 1580, Portugal was conquered by Spain and so it became the part of the Spanish Empire. As long as Spain maintained its naval supremacy, even Portugal was in a strong position. But once the Spanish Armada (naval force) was defeated by the British in 1588, it lost its naval supremacy. Consequently, even Portugal became looser.

For all these reasons, after brilliant initial success, Portuguese colonies remained stagnant for long time and then declined. When other European powers emerged on the scene, the Portuguese lost most of their gains.

Impact and Significance of the Portuguese on India:

Although the Portuguese invasion of India was geographically quite restricted, the Portuguese exploration of the East has had a profound impact on the world's socio-political order and economics. In the development of the contemporary world, it marked a turning point.

• • Armed Trade: The Portuguese introduced the concept of armed trade in the Indian Ocean. This was a precursor to conquest.
• • Empire Building: Not only were the Portuguese the earliest to arrive in India, but they were also the first to have the vision of creating an overseas empire.
• • Agriculture: The Portuguese introduced new varieties of crops such as mango, papaya, pineapple, guava, chilli peppers, kidney beans, potato, tomato, groundnuts, cashew nuts, tobacco, maize etc.
• • Christianity: The spread of Christianity started with the arrival of the Portuguese. St. Francis Xavier led an evangelical mission to India.
• • Printing Press: The Portuguese introduced the printing press to India and printed copies of the Bible in Malayalam and Kannada.
• • Architecture: The Portuguese built many churches and forts on the western coast of India, including The Churches and Convents of Goa, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• • Goan Culture: Cultural exchanges between the Portuguese settlers and the Goan natives gave birth to a distinct Goan culture with unique attire, cuisine, customs, festivals and folklore.

Despite their limited success, the Portuguese were able to establish the colony by force and keep it for 450 years, which is no small feat in any case. It was a feat of formidable daredevilry, religious zeal, fortitude, and navigational skills that speaks volumes about the Portuguese indomitable spirit.

British, Dutch and French Companies

The British East India Company was founded in London in 1600 CE and the Dutch East India Company in 1602 CE. These companies were joint-stock companies, which issued the shares in order to pool larger capital required for long distance trade and spread risk associated with treacherous oceanic travel.

Despite being a private company, the state extended its direct/indirect support whenever necessary. Queen Elizabeth gave a Charter ensuring monopoly of trade in East to the British East India Company for 15 years. Later his successor, James I, extended it for indefinite period.

There was intense competition between the British and Dutch companies in the 17th century.

• • Both Dutch and British companies were primarily interested in the spice trade in Southeast Asia, but due to the rivalry from the Dutch company, the British company could not be established in that region and had to withdraw from Southeast Asia.
• • On the other hand, the Dutch company was also interested in India and set up its factory at many places like Chinsura in Bengal, Masulipattam in Andhra, but had to withdraw from India due to British resistance.
  • ◦ In 1759, the Dutch of Chinsura were defeated by the British in the 'Battle of Bedara' and by 1795 they had to leave India.

The French company was late comer in India.

• • The French East India Company was established in 1664 by French Prime Minister, Colbert. It arrived in India in 1666 and established its factory at Surat, Masulipattam, Pondicherry, Chandragiri etc.
• • As France was the main rival of Britain in Europe, in India also, the French company emerged as the main rival of the British company. So, they began to compete to dominate the Indian territories, which came to be known as the Carnatic War.

Why were the political ambitions of European companies encouraged?

• • Balance of Trade
  • ◦ European trade with India was a one-way trade, i.e. there was a high demand for Indian goods in Europe, but European goods were not in demand in India. Therefore, these companies would have to bring precious metals for exchange.
  • ◦ This precious metal used to come from America. Therefore, the British company started to think on the option how to mobilise resources in India for financing trade.
• • It also started to think that if it would establish its political dominance, then it was able to get its other business rivals out of business, that would have increased its profits.

Nature of 17th century globalization

The early modern globalization took place in the context of the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe. The influx of wealth from global trade contributed to the rise of a merchant class and the development of capitalist economies, setting the stage for the industrial revolution in subsequent centuries.

• • The characteristic economic policy of this era was Mercantilism.
  • ◦ It drove nations to accumulate wealth through colonization, trade monopolies, and the exploitation of colonies, shaping global economic structures.
• • The rise of chartered and joint-stock companies facilitated the flow of goods across continents, such as the spice trade linking Europe and Asia.
  • ◦ These companies, driven by profit motives, operated on a global scale and became key players in shaping early modern globalization.
• • There emerged a global trade network from America in West to China and South-East Asia in East.
• • The system of trans-Atlantic triangular trade linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas in a brutal trade of slaves, manufactured goods, and raw materials.
• • However, history testifies that whenever globalization came into existence, even if we include globalization in the early Christian centuries and present globalization, then we come to realise that the balance of trade has always been in favor of India and China. This remained a major challenge for European companies.
  • ◦ Because of the accidental discovery of America, which supplied the precious metals to Europe, European merchants could finance the one-sided Indian trade.
  • ◦ They further tried to solve this through the Battle of Plassey and that of Buxar in India and the Opium War in China.
• • Colonization and Geopolitical shift: This era witnessed the established empires in Asia; Ottoman, Ming, Safavids and Mughals, facing challenges. Soon, the balance of power shifted which led to the redrawal of the global trade routes.
• • There was the beginning of the massive diffusion of European culture and values. Missionary activities, migration, and trade led to the dissemination of ideas, languages, and religious beliefs across the globe.
• • Columbian Exchange:
  • ◦ The transatlantic exchange of goods, plants, and animals had a profound impact on societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
  • ◦ The interconnectedness of the early modern world had unintended consequences, such as the spread of diseases. For example, smallpox epidemics brought by Europeans to the Americas had devastating effects on indigenous populations, reshaping demographic landscapes on a global scale.

'Trade Revolution' of 17th c.

Niels Steensgaard has pointed about that the Dutch and the English companies were instrumental in bringing about a revolution in the organization and conduct of Euro-Asian trade from 17th century onwards.

• • Portuguese company preferred the control the spice trade from India, while the British and Dutch companies were more attracted to export of new products like textiles.
• • Portuguese were primarily confined to the western coast of India, but the British and Dutch companies expanded even to the Coromandel coast, Bengal coast & Gujarat coast.
• • Not simply that, British & Dutch Companies were not confined only to the coastal regions, rather they expanded in the interior as well e.g. Ahmedabad in Gujarat & Agra in Northern India.
• • So far, the Portuguese company was involved simply in the collection, storage and the distribution of the products. However, the British & the Dutch companies were not satisfied simply with the distribution as they needed the larger quantity and so, they became involved in the production as well.

It is claimed that unlike the Portuguese, the success of the Dutch and the English was not based upon the government monopolies or the use of violence but on their ability to compete in the markets. However, in the Dutch and the English companies, the support of the governments was not entirely lacking. In any case, there was a significant change in the composition of trade in the 17th century.

Change in the composition of trade:

• • Commodity Basket: Portuguese company was mainly involved in the export of spices, but the British & the Dutch companies were involved in diverse items e.g. cotton and silk goods, raw cotton, saltpeter, indigo, opium, etc.
  • ◦ During the first half of the 17th century, in export, the contribution of spices was 74%, while that of cotton goods was 16%. But during the second half of the 17th century, the contribution of spices declined up to 23% while that of cotton goods increased up to 55%.
• • During this period, there was a wide expansion in European and Asian trade both.
  • ◦ For example, the Dutch company used to exchange Indian clothes with spices in Southeast Asia, they used to export cotton clothes from the Coromandel coast and Gujarat coast to southeast Asia. So, Coromandel coast was called the left hand of Malacca. Through this Asian trade, whatever profit was reaped by the Dutch company, it utilized the amount for purchasing the products (spices) from southeast Asia.
  • ◦ Apart from that, the Dutch company used to export opium from Bengal to southeast Asia & raw silk from Bengal to Japan.
• • Similarly, in 17th century, the main item imported into India was horses, now that item became a precious commodity (silver and gold).

Anglo-French Rivalry and Carnatic Wars

Transformation from a trading company to a political power:

The journey as a political power began in Carnatic, where the company first intervened in the succession matter of Indian rulers. It took this model from French Governor Dupleix.

At that time, the only rival power left was the French company. The French were the late comer to India, but they became a very formidable rival to the British company by 1730s. A conflict for supremacy between the two started from south India this conflict was known as Carnatic war.

Causes behind the Carnatic Wars:

• • Both British & Dutch company competed to monopolize their trade from the region of south India.
  • ◦ Coromandal coast was very important for international trade.
• • Both French & British companies started to compete with each other in extending their influence on southern states.
• • The Carnatic wars got involved with European questions as well. In other words, in Europe if conflict started between the British & French, that was extended up to India as well.

First Carnatic War (1744-1748)

• • It was an extension of European question. (Austrian war of succession)
  • ◦ The conflict started between the British and French power in Europe and this conflict came upto the doorstep of India after two years.
• • In India, it was the British Company which initiated the war but very soon it received a discomfiture.
• • When the Nawab of Carnatic Anwaruddin intervened into the matter, the French power could not be subdued. This war was known for the battle of Saint Thome which took place in 1746.
  • ◦ This battle proved the military superiority of European vis-à-vis Indian states.
• • Finally in 1748, peace was concluded between the British and French Party with the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. As per the treaty, there was mutual restitution of the territory.

Lessons/Significance of the First Carnatic War:

• • Superiority of the European military
  • ◦ The real significance of the First Carnatic war lay in the outcome of the Battle of St. Thome, which proved the military superiority of small but well-trained European forces over large, Indian armies.
• • Superiority of French in the first war
  • ◦ The capture of Madras was a salutary achievement. It enhanced the power and prestige of the French as a territorial and naval power in India.
• • Dupleix got opening into the domestic quarrel of Indian princes.
  • ◦ It demonstrated the overwhelming, far reaching influence of sea power.
  • ◦ It also revealed the state of political decay in India. Indians possessed no navy, and their military was weak, while there was no Mughal backup on land.
• • EIC started to build its private army.
  • ◦ At Madras in 1721 the English Company had total of only 545 men of all ranks (245 Europeans and the rest Eurasians).
  • ◦ War with France saw a hasty re-assessment of priorities and, thanks in large part to the extensive recruitment of Indian troops, by 1763 the Madras Army mustered some 9,000 men.

Second Carnatic War (1749-1754)

• • This started on Indian question i.e. both, French and the British companies intervened into succession matter of Indian states. In fact, a war of succession had started in two Indian states, Hyderabad and Carnatic. Both the companies intervened into the matter.
• • At the end, Hyderabad fell under the control of the French power while the Carnatic under the control of British Company.

Under the circumstances, it was a kind of stalemate in India. So, the two companies arrived at a negotiated settlement. Representatives of the two companies started discussion leading to the Treaty of Pondicherry (1754)

• • Each side promised not to interfere in local powers.
• • The war gave the British a stronghold over the Carnatic, which was a setback for the French company.
• • Recall of Dupleix (1754): Dupleix's career ended in 1754. He returned home after the career of 34 years in India. Charles Godeheu appointed as new GG with wide-ranging powers to sort out the problems.
• • With his recall, there was a complete reversal of Dupleix policy.
  • ◦ It served as a huge blow to French political ambitions in India, since it was his vision and ambition which had made the French company a real contender for power in the Indian subcontinent.
  • ◦ His work was undone in Carnatic. Only in Hyderabad de Bussy continued influence.

Even before the treaty could be ratified at home, the Seven Years' war broke out. Thus, the only effect of the treaty was to give a breathing space to two sides.

Third Carnatic War (1758-1763)

• • Once again, this war started on European question. This war was the extension of Seven years' War (1756-1763) to India.
  • ◦ The French government sent an important military officer Count de Lally to India to lead the French party but even the De Lally could not manage the situation properly.
• • French earlier lost the control over Hyderabad and finally it lost the total war.
• • In 1760, in the battle of Wandiwash, the British under Sir Eyre Coote routed the French under De Lally completely.
• • In 1763, there was a peace between French and British. The French factories were returned but they couldn't be fortified. After this, the French lost India and couldn't ever recover.

Outcomes:

• • The Third Carnatic war proved to be the final blow to French political ambitions in India.
  • ◦ French factories and Pondicherry were returned but without fortifications and confined only to local trade. However, the possibility of the French Empire in India was over.
• • By the end of the Third War, the EIC:
  • ◦ Became a territorial power in South India
  • ◦ Established pre-eminence in Hyderabad.
  • ◦ The most substantial gain was however in the Eastern India after the battle of Plassey.
• • There was near complete French expulsion from Bengal too.
• • Soon the French company was wrapped up.
  • ◦ French government went heavily into debt during the Seven Years' War. It had neither resource nor intent to salvage the company in India. The Company now completely lost the royal attention. French EIC formally ended in 1769. The French crown maintained the possessions thereafter.

Reasons behind the French failure

• • British company was much ahead of French company in expertise, resources and enthusiasm.
• • British company was commercially more successful than the French company.
• • Dupleix's error:
  • ◦ Instead of focusing on trade to financially enrich the company, Dupleix attempted to extend territorial claims. Thus, his initial success could not be sustained in the long run as he could not absorb the costs of war for long.
• • French were inferior at Sea (Naval dominance). French had no permanent base near India (Mauritius faraway than Bengal) while the British had mastery over Indian sea.
• • British company was led by competent officers like Sir Eyre Coote, Robert Clive and many others but except Dupleix French company did not enjoy the support of any competent officer.
• • Strategic mistakes
  • ◦ It was a strategic mistake to recall Dupleix after the Second War, French reversals on ground began after his exit.
  • ◦ It was also a strategic mistake to ask de Bussy to leave Hyderabad in the Third War.
• • British company was autonomous in taking decision as it was a joint-stock company, but the French company had to function under the strict control of the government.
• • Resources of Bengal had fell into the hands of British after the battle of Plassey.